Wanted to go cycling this morning. But a few friends wanted to do a hike. In the end, I decided to join them. It was two years ago that we completed Tour du Mont Blanc together, an epic hike then. So it is timely to reminiscent the trip. And it had been a long while since we last did a hike locally. We did our usual route starting at Windsor Nature Park, taking the Treetop Walk, Rifle Range Road, and ending at the summit of Bt Timah. Total distance of about 10km. As usual, we headed to Beauty World, a shopping mall near Bt Timah for lunch after the hike. I found a number of food stalls have changed hand, and saw one of my favourite, lor mee (卤面) there. This is a noodle dish with thick braised sauce and slices of pork and deep fried fish.

It was one year ago that I last participated in any race. And it was the same race, the MOE OLIVE Run. Have done the 10km race since I joined MOE in 2010. Used to be able to finish sub 1 hour. Now, it is 1 hour 10 to 15 mins... The route this year was different and interesting. Took some interesting photos at Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay area too. The Marina Bay area was reclaimed land, so it was like looking at how ships reached Singapore in the olden days. Fullerton used to be the General Post Office, and all road distance were measured originating from this building. We can see the Merlion, a mystical beast that has the head of a lion and body of a fish, sprouting water. It is a must stop for pic point for all tourist. The building with facade of arches was Clifford Pier. This was where all who travel by sea land in old Singapore. Big ships would drop anchor probably where the Gardens by the Bay is today. and transfer both passengers and cargo to shore via smaller boats. W

12 June Stayed in Auckland and visited the famed Auckland Harbour area, and Albert Park. also drove northwest to the Muriwai Beach. Wanted to see the gannet colony, but none in sight. Only sign we were at the right place was all the droppings on the rock.